Fire Commissioner Mark Tomko is comforted by Bergen County Executive Kathleen Donovan at a press conference in Wallington on Saturday.

WALLINGTON — As many as 6,000 firefighters are expected to attend a procession and funeral service Friday for Gregory Barnas, the captain in the borough’s volunteer fire department who died last week after falling from the roof of a burning restaurant, local officials said Saturday.

Condolences continued to pour into the department Saturday as borough officials tried to figure out how best to accommodate all of the mourners expected to descend on this small, densely-populated town.

It was also a day when firefighters from across the region talked about the special bond that’s shared by those who run to danger, and how that tie amplified whenever someone dies in the line of duty.

“This is what happens when a brother or sister firefighter goes down, everybody comes out,” said Wallington Fire Commissioner Mark Tomko. “Everything is pushed aside and they come out.”

Barnas, 57, was on the roof of Akasaka Japanese restaurant on Paterson Avenue, venting it in the early morning hours Friday when he fell off the one-story building. His two sons, Kevin and John, were also at the scene fighting the fire, which was ruled accidental.

EMTs performed CPR as Barnas was taken to Hackensack University Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead later in the morning.

An investigation into Barnas’ death and autopsy results were still pending Saturday, Mayor Walter Wargacki said.

Compounding the tragedy, Barnas had been donating blood cells for his son John’s leukemia treatments. John, 23, had received chemotherapy treatment Friday afternoon, just hours after his father’s death.

In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that contributions be made to either Hackensack University Medical Center’s Bone Marrow Transplant Fund or the Saint Barnabas Burn Foundation.

“Greg had been donating the stem cells for John in his fight against cancer and the family wishes that people would recognize how … bone marrow donations can save lives,” Tomko said.

A wake will be held for Barnas on Thursday at Warner-Wozniak Funeral home on Midland Avenue from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

On Friday, a procession will take Barnas’ casket from the funeral home to the Most Scared Heart of Jesus Roman Catholic Church on Paterson Avenue where a funeral mass is scheduled for 11 a.m. Following the service, the Wallington Fire Department will give its final salute to Barnas at the firehouse on Union Boulevard.

Parking will likely be problematic with a snowstorm expected to dump anywhere from 6 to 8 inches Monday followed by several days of subfreezing temperatures. Wargacki said he is trying to set up multiple staging areas in lots throughout town to bus mourners to the funeral home and church.

Bergen County Executive Kathleen Donovan ordered flags at county facilities to be flown at half-staff until after the funeral and asked mayors to do the same in their towns.

Barnas, who had been a volunteer firefighter in Wallington for 42 years, was also a paid fireman in Jersey City for 29 years where he rose to captain.

Along with New Jersey firefighters, local officials expect a large contingent from New York and Pennsylvania. Barnas had a summer home in Wayne County, Pa., and would often volunteer at fire stations there while on vacation.

“Barney,” as he was called, is the first Wallington firefighter to die in the line of duty since Alfred Ventura lost his life on March 5, 1970.

“We were talking about how ironic it is, almost to the day another firefighter falls,” said Tomko, who joined the department with Barnas in 1972 when both were 18.

In recent years, Barnas was instrumental in getting new protective gear for the department including self-contained breathing equipment.

But firefighters said they remember him more for his leadership.

Jacob Hrywniak said he was mentored by Barnas when he joined the department in 1999 as an 18-year-old. In January, Hrywniak was sworn in as the department’s chief.

“A lot of us owe so much to him,” Hrywniak said. “He was really involved in keeping the younger generation of firefighters involved.”

The wake and funeral will likely draw more firefighters who had never met Barnas than those who knew him well. On Saturday, firefighters from other departments said they planned to attend the services for one simple reason: Barnas was one of them.

“It hits home because you never know when you go to a scene how it’s going to turn out,” said Hillsdale Fire Capt. Tom Kelley, who has fought fires for 20 years.

Kelley was called to the scene of a kitchen fire Friday night with his son, a fellow firefighter, alongside him. Even though he had never met Barnas, Kelly said he thought a lot about him at that scene.

Barnas “had his two sons with him,” he said. “I had my son with me. The similarities are all there.”

Mike Marsh, a volunteer firefighter in Garfield for a quarter century, will attend the wake because Barnas was part of his “extended family.”

“You want to show your support because at the end of the day we’re all family whether you’re paid or volunteer,” he said. “It’s something that becomes part of your life.”

Per the family's wishes, Jersey City will also memorialize Barnas separately after the Friday service, said Jennifer Morrill, a city spokeswoman.Staff Writer Jeff Green contributed to this article.